
Author 



Title 



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RECOLLECTIONS 



OF THE 



Evacuation of Richmond, 



By JOHIv^ a. CAMPBELL 



RECOLLECTIONS 



OF THE 



Evacuation of Richmond^ 



April 2d, 1865. 



^ 



J 



By JOHN A^ CA]\»BELL 




BALTIMOEE: 
JOHN MURPHY & CO. 

1880. 






4-77 
.LI 



Recollections of tlie InmM of RicliuioDi 

J^ l//e Confederate A^rmj and Gov- 

e7^?ime?ii, m April, 7865, a7id of 

i7icide?ils l/ial fotlo7t^'ed it. 



I HAVE been often requested to make a record 
of my reminiscence of the occurrences in 
RichmxOnd, at the time of its evacuation in 
1865, by the Confederate Government ; and of the 
intercourse between President Lincoln and myself 
after that event. I proceed to comply with the 
requests. 

It was evident to any considerate observer, that 
the war must terminate in the spring of 1865 by 
the overthrow of the Confederacy. Their armies 
had suffered disastrous defeats and losses during 
the winter of 1864-5; their territory had become 
circumscribed ; their seaports were all captured ; 
their soldiers and laborers in workshops were 
deserting, supplies were exhausted and the popu- 
lation disheartened ; the army before Richmond 
was besieged, and its communications for the most 

3 



part, occupied or destroyed. On Sunday morning, 
the 2d April, 1865, I was as usual at the War 
Office. During the forenoon three telegrams came 
from General Lee to the War Office. One re- 
ported an engagement and heavy loss the preced- 
ing day ; the second reported the disaster and loss 
to have been more serious and heavy than was 
supposed at first ; the third reported the disaster 
and loss as irreparable, and directed an evacua- 
tion of the city. 

The remainder of the day and the following- 
night were employed in the collection together of 
the officers of government and their removal with 
the archives, army, and a large number of citizens 
from the city in the direction toward Danville. My 
son, two sons-in-law and a nephew left the city 
with the army to which they belonged. 

I remained in the city and was at the War 
Office till late in the evening. Before midnight 
the trains had gone and all the public buildings 
were empty. The only sounds came from the 
march of troops and the passage of wagons across 
the streets and bridge. About 3 A. M. of Mon- 
day morning, the explosion of the INTavy Maga- 
zine below Richmond, shook the buildings and 
aroused the slumbering population. Not long- 
after, I went down to the War Office and the 
Treasury building, and walked down to the canal. 
There were lights in the Shocco tobacco warehouse 



resembling lamps at the distance, but in a little 
time there was a blaze of light and flame. I wit- 
nessed the conflagration, and its extension to the 
flour mills near by and the stores in Carey street 
in front. One of the last acts of a retreating sol- 
dier must have been the firing of the warehouse. 
There was no appearance of fire as I came along 
the streets, nor until I saw the lights in the ware- 
house. I returned to my house and remained 
there till noon. The entry of the troops of the 
United States into the city, the appointment of a 
military governor, the establishment of guards and 
patrols, all occurred in the forenoon. The con- 
flagration continued till the afternoon and had 
extended over some twenty blocks of buildings 
along the main and other streets near. 

There was discipline and order among the troops 
of the United States and they rendered much aid 
in subduing the flames. In the afternoon of Mon- 
day, I visited a number of the families of persons 
who had gone from the city, and found that there 
had been no molestation suffered among them. 

On Tuesday morning, I reported to General 
Shepley, the military governor of the city, and 
informed him of my submission to the military 
authorities. General Shepley had argued causes 
before the Supreme Court while I was a member of 
it, and had obtained reputation as an able lawyer. 
I had made his acquaintance, but had not had any 



6 



personal intercourse. He gave me an order, secur- 
ing myself and my family protection, and spoke 
with some freedom of the course of affairs. He 
said, that the public authorities would pursue a 
conduct of liberality and forbearance, one not 
calculated to wound the sensibilities of the people. 
That the State would probably be placed under a 
military government, but the Governor would be 
selected from the State, and would not be ob- 
noxious. I understood that such were his own 
views. 

In the course of this conversation, he mentioned 
that President Lincoln was then at City Point, 
below Richmond. I said that I should be pleased 
to see him, and asked for a permission. General 
Shepley replied that he would consult General 
Weitzel, the commander of the troops in Rich- 
mond, and would send a telegram to the President 
with his consent. 

During the same afternoon. President Lincoln 
came to Richmond. He was escorted along the 
streets of the city by a small body of cavalry, and 
was followed by a multitude of persons, mostly 
colored, who testified joy and exultation. He was 
carried to the house which had been vacated, not 
forty-eight hours before, by Mr. Davis, and was 
now the head-quarters of the General commanding 
the United States troops. Shortly after his arrival 
a staff officer came for me, and I was conducted to 



a small room in that building, where I met Presi- 
dent Lincoln and General Weitzel. I had seen 
President Lincoln in Washington City, and a short 
time before at Hampton Roads. His manner indi- 
cated that he expected some special, and perhaps 
authorized, communication to him from the Con- 
federate Government. I disabused his mind of this 
by saying I had no commission to see him. I told 
him that in parting with General Breckenridge, 
the Secretary of War of the Confederate States, I 
had informed him I should not leave Richmond, 
and that I should take the earliest opportunity to 
see Mr. Lincoln on the subject of peace, and should 
be glad to have a commission to do so, but I had 
no reply, and received no commission. I then told 
the President that the war w^as over, and all that 
remained to be done was to compose the country. 
I told him, there had been much discussion 
among individuals on the subject of peace, and 
how one could be obtained, and of the conditions 
of a settlement. There had been a great number 
of prominent persons who had desired a settlement. 
There had been divisions as to the power to make 
one on the conditions he had announced. Some 
thought a convention of the States would be needed, 
others supposed the President, or President and 
Senate, or Congress, or the Generals might arrange 
for one ; that none had undertaken the task, and 
the result was that every man was left to make his 



8 



own peace. I spoke to him particularly for Vir- 
ginia, and urged him to consult and counsel with 
her public men, and her citizens, as to the restora- 
tion of peace, civil order, and the renewal of her 
relations as a member of the Union. I urged, 
that although there had been passion, petulance 
and animosity in the secession movements, that 
there were also serious differences of opinion as to 
constitutional obligations and responsibilities, upon 
which there w^as a ground for opposing opinions. 

That these had not been settled by the authorities 
of the country and perhaps could not be otherwise 
settled than by a war. That Virginia had not 
been a party in any intemperate agitation and 
had not precipitated the measures of secession. 
War existed when her final resolution was taken. 

Mr. Lincoln asked me to whom I alluded, in 
asking him to take counsel with the public men 
of Virginia? I mentioned among others, Mr. 
Rives, Mr. Hunter, Gov. Letcher, Mr. Baldwin, 
Mr. Caperton, Mr. Holcombe, &c., and General 
Lee himself. 

Mr. Lincoln, at the end, answered that my 
general principles were right ; the trouble was 
how to apply them. That he was impressed with 
what I had said of the difficulty of finding any 
one willing to deal with the subject of peace. 
He said he " wanted to have another talk," and 
for that purpose would remain in Richmond that 



9 



nio'lit. His officers would not listen to his suo-- 
gestion of remaining in Richmond, and it was 
agreed that I should visit him on the gunboat 
(Malvern) on which he had come to Richmond 
from City Point, and that I might bring with me 
citizens of the place. I sent invitations to several, 
but most of them were absentees, others declined 
to go with me. 

The following day (5th of April) in company 
with Mr. Gustavus Myers, a member of the 
Richmond bar, and General AVeitzel, I went to 
the gunboat Malvern, lying in James River, near 
Richmond. The President was prepared for the 
visit and spoke with freedom and apparent deci- 
sion. 'No one could hesitate to believe that he 
desired to restore the Union to the condition that 
it had been, and in doing so, to leave as few 
occasions for animosities, grudges or resentments 
as the extraordinary circumstances allowed. In 
the course of the conversation, he /produced a 
paper written by himself, but not signed, nor 
addressed to any one. This paper he read over 
and then commented ujDon each clause at some 
length and handed the i^aper to me. The follow- 
ing is a coY>y of the paper : 

"As to peace, I have said before, and now repeat that three 
things are indispensable : 

1. The restoration of the national authority throughont the 
United States. 

'2 



cCa—'— ^ 



10 



2. No receding by the Executive of the United States on the 
slavery question from the position assumed thereon in the late 
annual message, and in preceding documents. 

3. No cessation of hostilities short of an end of the war, and 
the disbanding of all forces hostile to the government. That all 
propositions coming from those now in hostility to the govern- 
ment, not inconsistent with the foregoing, will be respectfully 
considered and passed upon in a spirit of sincere liberality. 

I now add that it seems useless for me to be more specific with 
those who will not say that they are ready for the indispensable 
terms, even on conditions to be named by themselves. If there 
be any who are ready for these indispensable terms, on any con- 
ditions whatever, let them say so, and state their conditions, so 
that the conditions can be known and considered. It is further 
added, that the remission of confiscation being within the ex- 
ecutive power, if the war be now further persisted in by those 
opposing the government, the making of confiscated property at 
the least to bear the additional cost, will be insisted on, but that 
confiscations (except in case of third party intervening interests), 
will be remitted to the people of any State which shall now 
promptly and in good faith withdraw its troops from further re- 
sistance to the government. What is now said as to the remis- 
sion of confiscation has no reference to supposed property in 
slaves." , "\ 

I did not perceive any material difference be- 
tween the terms expressed in this paper and those 
announced by the President at the conference at 
Hampton Roads, in February of the same year, at 
which I was present and had participated. The 
demand for the restoration of the national au- 
thority as an indispensable condition for settlement 
was embodied in the inaugural address of the 



11 



President, and had not been abated or withdrawn 
for an instant since that date. There was no 
opposition possible now. The President in pub- 
lishing his proclamation in 1862, for the eman- 
cipation of the slave population, had resorted to 
an extreme and extra constitutional measure. If 
carried into execution it changed the constitution, 
and the social organization of all of the States to 
which it had been applied. The power to accom- 
plish by proclamation of the President such a 
social and constitutional change — such a revolution 
might well be questioned. 

The President here, as well as at Hampton 
Roads, said he spoke only for himself as the 
Executive of the United States. He repeated here 
with the same emphasis as there, that he would 
be steadfast to the measure proposed in those 
2)apers. 

My opinion at the time of the Hampton confer- 
ence was that the Confederate States were powerless 
to make resistance, and on my return I favored 
negotiations for peace. I had not under estimated 
the condition of the Confederacy. General Lee had 
now retreated from Richmond, destitute and inca- 
pable of making resistance. There was no other 
army organized to resist. My answer to President 
Lincoln was that I did not believe there would be 
any opposition to his terms. That I had regarded 
his proclamation as one of those acts that com- 



12 



mitted the government fatally and beyond recall, 
and that the institution of slavery after it, was as 
much an issue in the war as was the restoration of 
the Union. In the existing condition I believed 
there would be no contention on the subject. He 
referred to the laws imposing fines and penalties 
as not mentioned in his paper. He said he had 
not mentioned this in his paper because he did not 
think he ought to force any one to take a pardon ; 
that Mr. Davis had said he would not have one, 
but he himself would say, that most any one might 
have one for the asking. 

Mr. Lincoln told me he had been meditating a 
plan, but that he had not fixed upon it, and if he 
..adopted it, he would write to General Weitzel 
from City Point. This was to call the Virginia 
Legislature together, " the very Legislature which 
had been sitting in Richmond," — " been sitting up 
yonder," pointing to the Capitol, " to vote the 
restoration of Virginia to the Union." He said 
he had a government in Virginia — the Pierpont 
government — but it had a very small margin, and 
he was not disposed to increase it. He Avanted the 
very Legislature that had been sitting in Rich- 
mond to vote the restoration of Virginia to the 
Union. He said Virginia was in the condition of 
a tenant between contending landlords. The 
tenant should attorn to tlie landlord which shows 
the best title. 



13 



President Lincoln addressed inquiries to Mr. 
JNIyers, who was a prominent member of the bar 
of Richmond, relative to the composition of the 
Legislature — whether it had been adjourned or 
was dissolved — the character of its members, and 
whether it could be assembled in its entirety. 
We were several hours in conversation, and parted 
with him with expressions of mutual good-will. 

The following day, the letter the President had 
been meditating, came to General Weitzel and 
was shown to me, by the direction of the author 
as expressed in the letter. I have no copy of the 
letter, and have not seen it since that time. The 
interpretation I placed upon its terms, will appear 
from the contemporary papers, I prepared to carry 
it into execution, which I annex to this narrative. 

I understood that the President desired from 
that Legislature a repeal of all laws hostile to the 
United States, the renewal of their bonds of Union, 
and their obedience to the Constitution, and the 
restoration of the national authority so far as they 
could do so authoritatively or individually. 

My impression is that he expected they would 
sanction the resolution of Congress, which pro- 
posed the thirteenth amendment to the constitution. 

My own hope was, that what remained of civil 
order in the State, would be upheld, so as to assist 
in composing the elements of social disorganization 
and disorder, whicli would abound from the dis- 



14 



banding of the armies, and the abrupt and com- 
pulsory emancipation of the slaves. I did not 
suppose that the President, nor the Virginia Legis- 
lature could do more than to initiate measures 
which would result in a full and legal restora- 
tion of public order and domestic tranquility. 

The members of the Legislature in Richmond 
were called together, and a committee was formed 
of which General Anderson, of Richmond, was 
chairman, to summon the members and other 
persons. The papers I subjoin being a letter 
by me to the committee, and the letter of the 
committee will show all that was done by us. 
These papers were inspected and revised by Gen- 
eral Shepley, the military governor, and General 
Weitzel. They were examined by Charles A. 
Dana, assistant Secretary of War, who had es- 
tablished a branch of the War Department in 
Richmond. While thev were beino- read to Mr. 
Dana, Vice-President Johnson and Mr. Preston 
King came in and heard them. The former, I was 
told, expressed himself afterwards, strongly and 
profanely hostile, but this was not known at the 
time to me. Apparently there was but one senti- 
ment in Richmond, that of cordial approbation. 
On the 13th of April, I received a letter from 
General Ord, who had succeeded General Weitzel, 
saying : " I am instructed by the President to 
inform you that since his paper was written on 



15 



the subject of reconvening the gentlemen who 
acted under the insurrectionary government as 
the Legishiture of Virginia, events have occurred 
anticipating the objects had in view, and the con- 
vention of such gentlemen is unnecessary. He 
wishes the paper withdrawn, and I shall recall my 
l^ublications assembling them." 

I replied to the letter of General Ord the same 
day, and enclosed the paper the President had 
given to me ; and stated that " the communication 
of President Lincoln to him, in respect to con- 
vening the Legislature of Virginia, was addressed 
to General Weitzel. I read this communication 
by the authority of the writer, and imparted its 
import to those who were interested in fulfilling its 
requirements. The object was to restore peace to 
Virginia on the terms mentioned in the enclosed 
paper by the agency of the authorities that have 
sustained the war against the United States. I 
still think that the issue would have been most 
favorable. The events that have occurred since, 
have removed some impediments to the action 
sought for, and preclude the possibility of its 
failure." 

The surrender of the army of General Lee on 
the 8th and 9th of April, was foreseen some time 
before it took place. In the interview with Gen- 
eral Weitzel, on the 6th of April, he told me that 
lie understood then the force of my remark to Mr. 



16 



Lincoln, " that the war was ended," for that he had 
captured a letter of General Lee. Upon inquiry 
I found it was a letter that had been written to the 
Secretary of War, (Breckenridge), dated about the 
10th of ISJarch, 18(35, in answer to a request from 
the Secretary to inform him of his ability to main- 
tain a campaign. The letter of General Lee 
reported " that the situation was full of peril and 
difficulty, and required prompt action." In the 
course of the letter he stated that unless his con- 
dition was improved " that he could neither hold 
his lines before Richmond, nor could he remove 
from them." 

General AVeitzel spoke of the letter as a noble 
one, and that General Lee had spoken frankly and 
faithfully. 

This letter I had read with General Breck- 
enridge. It, with others from the Quarter-Master 
General, Commissary General, Chief of Ordnance, 
not more encouraging, had been communicated to 
the President of the Confederacy, and by him to 
Congress. These were captured among the other 
papers of that body. 

Whatever resources of munition or supplies 
those departments had for the campaign in Rich- 
mond, remained in Richmond at the evacuation, 
and were captured or consumed in the flames. 

Mr. Hunter came to Richmond to meet the 
Legislature when it should be assembled, and on 



17 



the 13tli was ordered to leave in twenty-four 
hours, under the orders of the Commander Ord. 
He proposed to me to go with him to Washington 
City to see President Lincoln, to which I assented. 
A telegram was sent afe BfjjiSm to the President 
in our names by General Ord, about noon of the 
14th of April. No answer was ever given. 

The same nio-ht the President was assassinated. 



The assassination of President Lincoln on the 
night of the 14th of April, 1865, at Washington 
City, and the horrible attempt by the conspirators 
to massacre other officers of the government of the 
United States, naturally aroused wild and improb- 
able suspicions as to the extent of the conspiracy, 
and a corresponding exasperation and abhorrence. 

Vice-President Johnson, who succeeded Mr. 
Lincoln, participated in the current excitement 
and the measures of his cabinet show the influence 
that event exerted upon them. 

The measures for reorganization which President 
Lincoln had under consideration before his death, 
were not disposed of, and his liberal spirit and 
purposes as to amnesty and the confiscation of 
property, were not embodied in the proclamation 
made the last of May of that year, (18(35.) A 
3 



18 



report of the evidence taken by tlie Judiciary 
Committee of the House of Representatives of 
Congress in the spring of 1867, relative to the 
charges against President Johnson, throws some 
light upon the plans and purposes of President 
Lincoln, and his proceedings at Richmond.. He 
returned to Washington from Richmond, and 
heard of the surrender of the army of General 
Lee on the 9th of April. Secretary Stanton 
testified to the committee " that President Lincoln 
went to the city of Richmond after its capture, and 
some intercourse took place between him and 
Judge Campbell, formerly of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, and General Weitzel, which 
resulted in the call of the rebel Legislature to 
Richmond. Mr. Lincoln on his return from Rich- 
mond reconsidered that matter. The policy of 
undertaking to restore the government through the 
medium of rebel organizations was very much 
opposed by many persons, and very strongly and 
vehemently opposed by myself. I had several 
earnest conversations with Mr. Lincoln on the 
subject and advised that any effort to reorganize the 
government should be under the Federal govern- 
ment solely^ and to treat the rebel organizations as 
7iull and void. On the day j)receding his death, a 
conversation took place between him, the Attorney 
General and myself upon the subject at the Execu- 
tive mansion. An hour or two aftervvards, and 



19 



about the middle of the afternoon, Mr. Lincoln 
came over to the War Department and renewed 
the conversation. 

"After I had repeated my reasons against allow- 
ing the rebel Legislatures to assemble, or the rebel 
authorities to have any participation in the business 
of reorganization, he sat down at my desk and 
WTote a telegram to General Weitzel, and handed 
it to me. ' There ' said he, ' I think this will suit 
you.' I told him no, it did not go far enough, that 
the members of the Legislature would probably 
come to Richmond, that Greneral Weitzel ought to 
be directed to prohibit their assembling. He took 
up his pen again and made that addition to his 
telegram and signed it. He handed it to me. I 
said that was exactly right. It was transmitted 
immediately to General Weitzel, and was the last 
act ever performed by Mr. Lincoln in the War 
Department." Mr. Stanton w^as not decided as to 
wdiether the President had intended to call the 
Legislature together at all, and whether he had 
intended to use them for any purpose except to 
withdraw the troops of Virginia from the Con- 
federacy; and that he stated he had been mis- 
understood. 

The telegram to General Weitzel is in the report 
of the Congress committee, and the following is 
a copy : 



20 



"Office U. S. Military Telegraph, War Department, 

WasJiington, D. C, April ISlh, 1865. 

Major General Weitzel, Richmond, Va : 

I have just seen Judge Campbell's letter to you of the 7th. 
He assumes, it appears to me, that I have called the insurgent 
Legislature of Virginia together, as the rightful Legislature of 
the State to settle all differences with the United States. I have 
done no such thing. I spoke of them not as a Legislature, but as 
' the gentlemen who have acted as the Legislature of Virginia in 
support of the rebellion.' I did this on purpose to exclude the 
assumption that I was recognizing them as a rightful body. I 
dealt with them as men having power de facto to do a specific 
thing, to wit: 'To withdraw the Virginia troops and other sup- 
port from resistance to the general government,' for which, in the 
paper handed to Judge Campbell, I promised a special equivalent, 
to wit : A remission to the people of the State, except in certain 
cases, of the confiscation of their property. I meant this, and no 
■ more. Inasmuch, however, as Judge Campbell misconstrues this, 
and is still pressing for an armistice contrary to the explicit state- 
ment of the paper I gave him, and particularly as General Grant 
has since captured the Virginia troops, so that giving a consider- 
ation for their withdrawal is no longer applicable, let my letter to 
you and the paper to Judge Campbell both be withdrawn or 
countermanded, and he be notified of it. Do not now allow them 
to assemble, but if any have come allow them safe return to their 
homes. A. LINCOLN." 

I have detailed the conversations and acts of 
President Lincoln at Richmond, and the expecta- 
tions and hopes he excited. Mr. Secretary Stanton 
has deposed to the successful efforts made b}^ him- 



21 



self to frustrate them. I have not compLained that 
the President revoked his orders nor that he 
deemed the meeting unnecessary, nor even that he 
shoukl have directed that those who came at the 
invitation shoukl have been tokl that unless they 
returned home in twenty-four hours they would be 
imprisoned. What the course of Mr. Lincoln 
would have been had his life been spared, is beyond 
our knowledge or our conjecture. 

Mr. Stanton two years after the death of the 
President informs us that he did not know of any 
plan formed by the President. At the date of his 
death Mr. Stanton had advised there was no 
government in any of the eleven States ; " that the 
troops of the States had been conquered, the 
authorities overthrown by the authority of the 
United States, and by the war, and that their 
exclusion should be placed on the ground that 
their overthrow by the United States had been 
established." Within the month after the death of 
Mr. Lincoln, orders were given to the military 
commanders that there should be no recognition of 
any civil officer in all of those States, and that the 
attempt of any one to exercise any civil function 
of their offices should be followed by his mili- 
tary arrest. For some six months the civil and 
social order in all of those States was subverted. 
Numerous arrests were made of civil officers of 
those States, who are reported in 1866, as prisoners 



22 



of war. Mr. Stanton testifies of his own plan of 
reorganization. He favored a convention selected 
by the male population of lawful age, excluding all 
who had been disloyal. That is including the 
colored population and excluding a very large 
proportion of the whites. 

This plan had been recently adopted by the 
reconstruction acts as they were interpreted. The 
States were then military departments, and domi- 
nated by Brigadier Generals, and designated by 
Arabic numerals. Under such rule the most dis- 
honest, despicable and debased governments were 
established that ever existed on this continent. I 
am not prepared to admit that President Lincoln 
would have cooperated with the politicians or the 
j^arty who brought such calamities on the country. 
My opinion is that his purposes were to deal 
frankly and faithfully in accordance with the 
declarations made by him at Richmond. 

JOHN A. CAMPBELL. 

Baltimore, ISSO. 



23 



APPENDI 



[copy.] 

Richmond, Ya., 7th of April, 1865. 

General Joseph R. Anderson 

AND others, Committee, &c. 

Gentlemen : 

I have had, since the evacuation of Richmond, two conversations 
with Mr. Lincoln, President of the United States. My object 
was to secure for the citizens of Richmond, and the inhabitants 
of the State of Virginia who had come under the military au- 
thority of the United States, as much gentleness and forbearance 
as could possibly be extended. 

The conversations had relation to the establishment of a gov- 
ernment for Virginia, the requirement of oaths of allegiance from 
the citizens, and the terms of settlement with the United States. 

With the concurrence and sanction of General Weitzel, he 
assented to the application not to require oaths of allegiance 
from the citizens. 

He stated, that he would send to General Weitzel his decision 
upon the question of a government for Virginia. This letter was 
received on Thursday, and was read by me. It authorized Gen- 
eral Weitzel to grant a safe conduct to the Legislature of Virginia 
to meet at Richmond, to deliberate and to return to their homes 
at the end of their session. I am informed by General Weitzel 
that he will issue whatever orders that may be necessary, and will 
furnish all the facilities of transportation, &c., to the members of 
the Legislature to meet in this city, and that the Governor, 



24 



Lieutenant Governor and public men of the State will be included 
in the order. 

The object of the invitation is for the government of Virginia 
to determine whether they will administer the laws in connection 
with the authorities of the United States. I understand from 
Mr. Lincoln, if this condition be fulfilled that no attempt would 
be made to establish or sustain any other authority. 

My conversation with President Lincoln upon the terras of a 
settlement, was answered in writing ; that is, he left with me a 
written memorandum of the substance of his answer. 

He stated as indispensable conditions of a settlement : the 
restoration of the authority of the United States over the whole 
of the State, and the cessation of hostilities by the disbanding of 
the army, and that there shall be no receding on the part of the 
Executive from his position on the slavery question. The latter 
proposition was explained to mean that the Executive action on 
the subject of slavery, so far as it had been declared in messages, 
proclamations and other official acts, must pass for what they 
were worth ; that he would not recede from his position. But 
that this would not debar action by other authorities of the 
government. 

I suppose that if the proclamation of the President be valid as 
law, that it has already become operative and vested rights. 

I believe that full confidence may be placed in General Weitzel's 
fulfilment of his promises to afford facilities to the Legislature, 
and that its members may return after they have concluded their 
business, without interruption. 

Mr. Lincoln in his memorandum, referred to what would be his 
action under the confiscation acts. He stated that when the 
property had not been condemned and sold, that he would make 
a universal release of the forfeitures that had been incurred in 
any State which would now promptly recognize the authority of 
the United States, and withdraw its troops. But that if the war 
be persisted in that the confiscated property must be regarded 



25 



as a resource from which the expenses of the war might be 
supported. 

His memorandum contained no article upon the penalties im- 
posed upon persons, but in his oral conversation, he intimated 
that there was scarcely any one who might not get a discharge 
for the asking. 

I understand from the statement, though the words did not 
exactly imply it, that a universal amnesty would be granted if 
peace were now declared. 

In my intercourse I strongly urged the propriety of an armistice. 
This was done after the |)reparatiou of his memorandum. He 
agreed to consider the subject, but no answer has been received. 
I suppose that if he assents that the matter will be decided and 
executed between Generals Grant and Lee. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

(Signed,) J. A. CAMPBELL. 



TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA. 

The undersigned members of the Legislature of the State of 
Virginia in connection with a number of the citizens of the State 
whose names are attached to this paper, in view of the evacuation 
of Richmond by the Confederate government, and its occupation 
by the military authorities of the United States, the surrender of 
the army of Northern Virginia and the suspension of the juris- 
diction of the civil power of the State, are of opinion that an 
immediate meeting of the General Assembly of the State is called 
for by the exigencies of the situation. The consent of the 
military authorities of the United States to the session of the 
Legislature in Richmond, in connection with the Governor and 
Lieutenant Governor, to their free deliberation upon public affairs, 
and to the ingress and departure of all its members under safe 
conduct has been obtained. 

4 



26 



The United States authorities will afford transportation from 
any point under their control to any of the persons before men- 
tioned. The matters to be submitted to the Legislature are the 
restoration of peace to the State of Virginia, and the adjustment 
of questions involving life, liberty and property that have arisen 
in the States as a consequence of the war. We therefore, earn- 
estly request the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and members of 
the Legislature, to repair to this city by the 25th of April, 
(instant.) 

We understand that full protection to persons and property 
will be afforded in the State, and we recommend to peaceful 
citizens to remain at their homes and pursue their usual avoca- 
tions, with the confidence that they will not be interrupted. 

We earnestly solicit the attendance in Richmond on or before 
the 25th of April, (instant), of the following persons, citizens of 
Virginia, to confer with us as to the best means of restoring peace 
to the State of Virginia. We have procured safe conduct from 
the military authorities of the United States for them to enter the 
city and to depart without molestation : 

Hon. R. M. T. Hunter, A. T. Carpentor, Wm. C. Rives, John 
Letcher, A. H. H. Stuart, R. L. Montague, Fayette McMullen, 
J. P. Holcombe, Alex. Rives, B. J. Barbour, J as. Barbour, W, 
L. Goggins, J. B. Baldwin, T. S. Gholson, Walter Staples, S. D. 
Miller, T. J. Randolph, W. T. Early, R. A. Claybrook, Jno. C. 
Horner (?), Wra. JTownes, T. H. Eppes, and those other persons 
for whom passports have been procured and especially forwarded 
that we consider it to be unnecessary to mention. 

{Signed,) J. Marshall, Senator from Fauquier. 
J. A. Neeson, Senator fromi Marion. 

Jas. Venable, T. M. Dudley, W. Goddin, 

D. J. Burr, L. Tazwell, P. G. Bayly, 

D. J. Saunders, W. T. Joynes, T. J. Smith^ 

L. S. Hall, J. A. Meredith, F. Stearnes, 



27 



J. J. English, W. H. Lyons, 

Wm. Ambers, Wm. C. Wickham, 

A. M. Keiley, B. S. Ewell, 

H. W. Thomas, Nat. Tyler. 
Lt. S. S. Moncure, R. F. Walker, 

Jos. Mayo, Jos. R. Anderson, 

R. Howard, R. R. Howison, 



John Lyon, 
T. R. Fisher, 
W. M. Harrison, 
Cyrus Hall, 
F. W. Garnett, 
Jas a. Scott. 



I concur in the preceding recommendation, 

J. A. CAMPBELL. 

Approved for publication in the Whig and in handbill form. 

G. WEITZEL, 

Major General Commanding. 



Richmond, Va., Airril 11th, 1S65. 



